Catch is better than chase for buyer of £11,200 lot at auction...

Pictures and prints spanning 400 years attracted much interest at our recent sale and over 80% found buyers from around the world.

Five from a rare set of six lithographs of views in India by Jose Gonsalves, circa 1826, made £3170 and an etching by Rembrandt of his wife Saskia and others, dated 1636, also made £3170.

The rather changeable market for Victorian watercolours showed renewed strength for good artists’ works: a charming study of a seated boy by William Henry Hunt doubled hopes to make £4390 and an atmospheric twilight scene of `The Convent Ferry` by Albert Goodwin was bid to £5490, again doubling the estimate.

An auction record of £6100 was paid for a large (156 x 120cm) watercolour by contemporary artist Sarah Graham whilst a much smaller oil by Mary Fedden, just 19 x 24cm, had been bought direct from the artist’s studio in 1995. This also doubled hopes to make £7560. The day’s top price was paid for a lively, high-spirited oil on canvas by Arthur Wardle, entitled `The Chase is better than the Catch`, depicting two terriers chasing a hare around corn stooks. Full of vigour and with a delightful balance of playfulness and determination, this 37 x 52cm picture – consigned for sale from Northern Ireland - was bid to £11220 after much interest from bidders in Britain, America and Australia.